Improved roofing



UNITED STATES PATENT Grricn.

RUFUS NOBWOOD, OF BALTIMORE, MARYLAND.

IMPROVED ROOFING.

Specification forming part of Letters Paent No. 55,891, dated June 2G,1866.

To allwhom it may concern:

Be it known that I, RUFUs Nonwoon, of the city and county of Baltimore,and State 0f- Maryland, have invented a new and Improved Boong; and I dohereby declare that the following is a full, clear, and exactdescription thereof, reference being had to the accompanying drawings,making a part of this specification, in which- Figure lis a top view ofa roof with firewalls, showing the manner of applying' the strips offelt to the roof preparatory to covering it with gravel. Fig. 2 is aperspective view of one layer of strips arranged diagonally upon a roof.Fig. 3 is a vertical section of a roof between fire-walls, showing themethod of keeping the cement in'contact with these walls. Fig. t is anelevation ofa roof having felt and gravel applied to it, with screens toprevent the escape ofthe gravel from the eaves.

Similar letters of reference indicate corresponding parts in the severalfigures.

This invention relates to certain novel iinprovements in covering theroofs of buildings with felt and gravel and a suitable cement for makingthe parts adhere and to render the whole water-proof'.

The natureof my invention consists in applying the felt or clothcovering upon the roof in diagonal overlapping layers, so as to have auniform thickness of four (or more or less) layers, which are arrangedso as to afford the greatest strength and durability against the effectsof the weather, as will be hereinafter described.

It also consists in a mode of preventing the cement and gravel coveringof the felt from parting from or leaving' the joints of walls, chimneys,or other objects projecting through or above the roofs, thus etfectuallysealing such joints and preventing the entrance of water thereat,as willbe hereinafter described.

To enable others skilled in the art to understand my invention, I willdescribe its construction and operation.

The felt or cloth, of a suitable description for the purpose intended,is applied to a roof in diagonal overlapping layers by commencing at onecorner ofthe eaves, as shown in Fig. 2, and laying down the strips a a aso that there shall be two even thicknesses ofthe cloth over the entireroof. I then put upon the surface of the first layer a coating ofcement, which may be composed principally of asphaltum. I now commenceat the opposite corner ofthe eaves, and lay down another diagonallayer,Z1, of feltor cloth, precisely as l have described for the first layer.This second layer is composed of narrow overlapping strips, which crossthe edges of the first layer of strips, as shown in Fig. l, and attachthemselves to the interposed coating of cement, so as to prevent the twolayers from separating and the upper layer from becoming torn. By thusapplying the strips a and b to a roof in counterdiagonal positions onelayer will have the effect of tying' together and strengthening thestrips composing the other layer, and the two layers will have nearly,if not quite, the strength and substantialness of one solid sheet of anequal thickness; and while this is the case the two layers will presenta level surface of a uniform thickness.

The `cement which I interpose between the two layers of felt or clothwill not only serve to increase the solidity of the covering and preventa separation ofthe strips c and b, but it will effectnally render thiscovering impervious to water.

Previously to applying the felt strips to a roof having fire-walls A A,chimneys, or other objects projecting above it, I apply what I termreveal7 strips c c at the joints or junction of the roof with suchprojecting objects, as shown in Fig. 3. The strips c c form ridgeshaving their surfaces inclined toward and from the firewalls A A, andthese ridges leave gutters or depressions between them and the saidwalls for preventing the cement which is in these gutters from leavingthe Walls. Then the felt is applied to the roof it is carried over saidridges and secured down at the junction of the walls with the roof bymeans of angular strips d d, which are covered with cement and gravel.

By always keeping the cement in close contact with the walls A A, bymeans above stated, and shown in Fig. 3, water will be prevented fromentering at such points.

Under the old mode of securing the edges of the felt down at thejunction of the roof with firewalls, chimneys, dormer-windows,

narrow strips of wood are used, which have the effect of causing thecement covering and loose from the cement covering from passing' overinto the gutters. These strips g g will prevent the breaking down orsagging of gutters, by preventing anything Washinginto them from theroof, and they present a very neat appearance when applied to roofs.

1 do not desire to conine my invent-ion to the use of two layers offelt, making four thicknesses of this material, as a greater number or aless number of layers and thicknesses may be applied to a roof upon theprinciple herein described.

The invention, in part, consists in the novel disposition of the stripsof felt, cloth, or other suitable material, and any suitable number oflayers may be used, according to thestrength required.

Having thus described my invention, what l claim as new, and desire tosecure by Letters Patent, is-

1. A roof which is in part composed of several overlapping strips offelt or its equivalentapplied in counter-diagonal positions,substantially as described.

2. The combination of the reveal-strips c c and strips d with thefelting, as described, so that gutters or channels at the junction ofthe roof with the fire-Wall can be formed, preventing thereby the cementcovering from being detached from the roof and wall, substantially asdescribed.

RUFUS NORWOOD.

Witnesses W. H. HAYWARD, L. R. WooLLEN.

